Senators at Panthers
The Ottawa Senators look to complete a sweep of their two-game, two-day trip to the Sunshine State and pump a little life into their faint playoff hopes when they visit the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. The Senators snapped a six-game losing streak with a 4-3 shootout victory at Tampa Bay on Monday after letting a two-goal lead get away. Ottawa captain Jason Spezza continued his hot streak (20 points in 15 games) by scoring a goal in regulation and netting the lone tally in the bonus format.
The Senators are nine points behind Toronto for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference but have two games in hand on the Maple Leafs with 11 to go. The Panthers are trying to build confidence for next season as they play eight of the last 10 games at home. Florida, which lost the final three contests of its four-game road trip, expect to have Roberto Luongo back in net after he sat out Sunday’s 6-2 loss to Anaheim.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, RSN East (Ottawa), FSN (Florida)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (29-29-13): Defenseman Erik Karlsson collected a goal and two assists Monday to extend his point streak to seven games while increasing his lead among the league’s blue-liners in scoring. Karlsson has a career-best 20 goals and team-best 68 points – 10 shy of his total from his Norris Trophy-winning season of 2011-12. Kyle Turris has emerged this season with career highs of 49 points and 22 goals - one short of team leader Bobby Ryan (lower body), who is expected to miss his second straight game.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (26-38-8): Florida beat San Jose with a heroic 52-save performance by Luongo to start their trek and lost a 2-1 decision at Phoenix before being outscored 10-2 in the final two games. Scottie Upshall leads a balanced offense with 34 points while defenseman Brian Campbell has collected 32 and joins fellow blue-liner Tom Gilbert (28) as the only two players to suit up for every game. The Panthers sent left wing Garrett Wilson back to the minors and could get forward Jesse Winchester (lower body) back in the lineup.
OVERTIME
1. Senators LW Clarke MacArthur has 21 goals, tying his career high originally set in 2010-11 while with Toronto.
2. Ottawa has given up 10 goals when skating 4-on-4 - tied for the most in the league - and scored only three times in such situations.
3. The Panthers have allowed at least one power-play goal in nine consecutive games.